Veteran theatre artist Neelu passes away in Chennai

Veteran stage, film and TV actor R Neelakandan, known by his stage name Neelu, died in Chennai on Thursday due to age-related ailments. He was 83. He was undergoing treatment in a private hospital here.

According to a reports, the actor was admitted in Kauvery Hospital, Chennai for heart surgery and did not respond to well to treatments. He is survived by his wife Shanta, and sons Arjun and Bharath.

Neelu had acted in plays before appearing in films. He had acted in around 7,000 plays. The stage veteran frequently collaborated with Cho Ramaswamy, Y G Mahendran, Crazy Mohan, S Ve Sekhar and Mouli. He featured in more than 150 films, including the satirical masterpiece Muhammad bin Tughlaq, and films such as Avvai Shanmugi, Suryavamsam, Dheena, Anniyan and Trisha Illana Nayanthara.